Nearly a year after businessman Sunjay Kapur died while playing polo in England, the dispute between his widow Priya Sachdev Kapur and his mother Rani Kapur over the RK Family Trust has moved from open courtroom confrontation to court-monitored mediation, with former Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud appointed to steer talks.The Supreme Court referred the matter to mediation after the family members involved agreed to participate, signalling an attempt to contain a bitter inheritance and control dispute linked to one of the country’s prominent automotive component businesses. The case centres on the Rani Kapur Family Trust, its creation, its management and its connection to entities associated with Sona BLW Precision Forgings, widely known as Sona Comstar.
A bench of Justices J. B. Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan asked the parties to approach the process with an open mind and avoid public comments or social media posts on the family dispute. The matter is expected to return to the court after the mediator submits a preliminary report, with further proceedings likely to depend on whether the talks produce a workable settlement.
Rani Kapur, who is in her eighties, has challenged the trust arrangement and alleged that assets linked to the family were moved without her informed consent. Her case has included claims of fraud, forgery and undue influence, with allegations that her physical condition after a stroke in 2017 was exploited when documents were executed. Priya Sachdev Kapur has contested those allegations and has maintained her position in relation to the trust and associated corporate structures.
The dispute sharpened after Sunjay Kapur’s death on June 12, 2025, at Guards Polo Club in Windsor. Early public discussion around the death included speculation over a bee-related episode during the match, but the UK coroner later recorded a natural cause of death linked to heart disease, and police treated the death as non-suspicious. That finding did not end the family conflict, which shifted quickly towards questions of inheritance, trust control and corporate influence.
At stake is not only a family estate often described in large-value terms, but also control structures connected to Sona Comstar’s promoter entity. The RK Family Trust is linked to Aureus Investment Private Ltd, which holds a significant stake in Sona Comstar. Priya Sachdev Kapur has been associated with Aureus and was appointed to Sona Comstar’s board as a non-executive director after Sunjay Kapur’s death. The company has maintained that its governance decisions were taken on legal advice and that Rani Kapur was not recorded as a shareholder at least since 2019.
The trust dispute has also drawn in the interests of Sunjay Kapur’s children. Samaira and Kiaan, his children from his marriage to actor Karisma Kapoor, are among the family members whose interests have surfaced in parallel proceedings. Priya Sachdev Kapur’s son Azarias is also a beneficiary. The mediation, however, is understood to focus on the trust and related family-linked companies, while separate claims concerning Sunjay Kapur’s will and other estate issues may continue on their own legal tracks.
Court proceedings in Delhi had already produced interim directions restraining the creation of third-party rights over certain assets left by Sunjay Kapur, providing temporary protection while competing claims are examined. Rani Kapur’s plea has sought to question the validity of the trust itself, while Priya Sachdev Kapur’s side has argued that a person challenging the trust’s existence cannot simultaneously exercise trustee powers under it.
The confrontation escalated in March when Priya Sachdev Kapur issued a notice removing Rani Kapur as trustee, citing alleged conduct against the trust’s interests. That move followed Rani Kapur’s effort to remove Priya from a trustee role, turning the dispute into a reciprocal challenge over legitimacy, authority and fiduciary duties.